This invention relates to comminuting machines of the general type disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,931,935 that shred or grind waste materials such as scrap rubber and tires, and more particularly to the loose pendant clearing rings that are supported between the cutter wheels of such machines for preventing the accumaltion of shredded waste between or around the cutting wheels, and to methods of making such clearing rings.
Various mechanisms such as clearing disks, fingers and rings have been used to strip shredded rubber and other scrap materials from the cutter wheels and shafts of comminuting machines. The unitary clearings rings used in prior art apparatus have not been satisfactory because such rings wear out faster than the adjacent parts of the comminuting machine so the rings must be replaced before the other parts require replacement. This has necessitated that the shafts which support the cutter wheels and clearings rings be dissassembled from the comminuting machine, and the cutter wheels and spacers must be removed before new clearing rings can be placed around the shafts. When the cutter wheels and spacers must be removed by pressing them off their supporting shafts, these parts can be damaged to the extent that the parts are not reusable. Prior art clearing rings also generate high noise levels in a range of about 95-100 dBA when the rings contact other parts of the machine during the shredding operation.